Global Comprehensive Report on Thin Film Deposition Equipment Market

Thin Film Deposition (TFD) equipment market, like any other manufacturing equipment industry, has been posting uneven performances, largely tied to the economic fortunes of the world.

Demand for TFD equipment is derived from demand for semiconductors, medical devices/consumables, cutting and metal forming tools, storage media and flexible packages, which largely depend on consumer and industrial spending. Hence, in times of economic turbulence, when spending is curtailed to a larger extent, the industry’s revenues look down in general. Accordingly, the industry’s growth, capacities and utilization rates flash their own crests and troughs though not as severe as the end-use industries themselves. Capital intensiveness of the industry also impacts the cyclical growth periods, often with growth occurring in fits with intermittent revolutionary technology developments.

Bad economy and deteriorating business climate resulted in chipmakers scaling back production as a knee jerk reaction to the soft business environment prevalent in most end-use sectors. Spooked by the financial crisis and lack of credit availability, semiconductor foundries, and fabrication plants reined in capital spending, thus impacting demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment including thin layer deposition equipment. Overall investment in semiconductor capital equipment worldwide declined sharply during the years 2008, and 2009. Positioned higher up in the value chain, foundries have been especially impacted as upstream markets typically tend to be boxed in with issues related to both raw material prices, price sensitivity of chip designers and the final demand for finished electronic products. This thereby has impacted the ability of foundries to successfully land contracts from IC designers. Reduced investments in chip fabrication technologies, equipment and factories therefore largely impacted demand for thin layer deposition equipment and technologies.

In addition to depressed demand conditions in microelectronics, storage and optics end-use sectors, the market for thin layer deposition equipment was also impacted by the soft business climate in other application sectors such as, cutting tools, industrial, and specialty packaging. Slowing levels of economic activity as a result of reduced manufacturing and commercial activity, declines in industrial production, weak business confidence, shortages of credit availability to finance investments in new machinery, technologies, new plant establishments, upgradation, renovations and refurbishments, all represented common woes that cut through these end-use sectors.

Post recession, renewed emphasis on tapping into growth opportunities in the chip industry will elicit a shift in focus away from cost reduction towards technology innovation, with ensuing benefits echoing downstream into the market for thin layer deposition equipment. Semiconductor fabrication plants are expected to resume investments in purchasing equipment required to ensure relevance and sustainability as the chip industry continues to move up to the next generation in IC manufacturing. Additionally, the already surfacing electronic component shortages as a result of the hitherto cutting back on production lines and investments in fabrications plants, will spur demand over the next few years. In conclusion, shortages of resistors, motherboard components and microprocessors, among others will help jumpstart investments in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The emerging economies will be the critical factor in driving world thin layer deposition equipment demand in the post recession period.

As stated by the new market research report, Europe and Asia-Pacific account for a major share of the global Thin Layer Deposition Equipment market. Asia-Pacific represents the largest and fastest market for physical vapor deposition equipment growing at a CAGR of 9.2% over the analysis period. Unlike the diversified PVD industry, CVD industry is much more concentrated on high-tech applications of microelectronic components such as semiconductors and opto-electronic components, aerospace and medical technology. Global market revenues for chemical vapor deposition equipment are expected to surge at a CAGR of 3.6% over the analysis period.